Online Desk:
The government is allocating 1 million doses of the coronavirus vaccine for administration at the private health facilities, Zahid Maleque has said.
The private hospitals will buy the vaccines from the government, the health minister told journalists on Thursday.
He said officials were processing the matter after getting Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s approval.
“We won’t give them much. We are giving them the vaccines because they have asked for it. It will also ease some load on us,” Maleque said.
Only the “good” private hospitals and medical colleges will be allocated the vaccines. “They will only administer the doses.”
MA Mubin Khan, president of Bangladesh Private Medical College Association, at a programme on Wednesday asked that the government involve the private health facilities in the mass immunisation drive. He sought 1 million doses initially for them.
“We will need to administer tens of millions of doses. One million doses are nothing compared to that,” Maleque said on Thursday when asked whether the government would give the private hospitals the doses they want.
The minister said the cost of taking the vaccine at the private hospitals has not been agreed.
Private hospitals carry out COVID-19 sample testing for a fee. As for the vaccine, people would have the choice to opt for free vaccination from the government or pay fees for inoculation from private hospitals.